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The stoics lived a long time ago, but they had some startling insights into the human condition - insights which endure to this day. The philosophical tradition, founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in 301 BC, endured as an active movement for almost 500 years, and contributions from dazzling minds such as Cicero, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius helped create a body of thought with an extraordinary goal - to provide a rational, healthy way of living in harmony with the nature of the universe and in respect of our relationships with each other.

In many ways a precursor to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Stoicism provides an armamentarium of strategies and techniques for developing psychological resilience, while celebrating all in life which is beautiful and important. By learning what stoicism is, you can revolutionise your life and learn how to seize the day, live happily and be a better person.

This simple, empowering book shows how to use this ancient wisdom to make practical, positive changes to your life. Using thought-provoking case studies, highlighting key ideas and things to remember and providing tools for self-assessment, it demonstrates that Stoicism is a proven, profound pathway to happiness.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Donald Robertson is a UKCP registered psychotherapist, specialising in cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), clinical hypnosis, and other evidence-based approaches. He has been in practice as a therapist for over fifteen years and mainly treats clients with anxiety-related problems at his clinic in Harley Street, London. Donald is also an experienced trainer and workshop facilitator.

He is the author of dozens of articles in therapy journals and magazines and of the books The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (2010) and The Practice of Cognitive-Behavioural Hypnotherapy (in press). He is also the editor of The Discovery of Hypnosis (2009), the complete writings of James Braid, the founder of hypnotherapy.

Top customer reviews

This is the third book I’ve read on stoicism, and overall I don’t like it as much as the others. I expected a straightforward practical emphasis because the author is a psychotherapist, the title refers to ‘the art of happiness’, there’s a blurb on the cover saying ‘ancient tips for modern challenges’, and the book is part of a ‘Teach Yourself’ series. What I found instead is that the book has an academic feel, with a lot of details related to terminology and somewhat esoteric specifics of what various ancient stoics said. And making matters worse, the book is tediously repetitive. Basically, you have to do quite a bit of filtering and reflecting to extract the practical points from the book.

I made such an effort, and my main conclusion is that we’re our own worst enemies when it comes to happiness, because we tend to naturally interpret our lives and circumstances in ways that lead to more negative emotions than necessary. The remedy is to become masters of our minds, using our abilities to reason and observe ourselves, so that we gradually train ourselves to habitually apply various psychological techniques which cause us to interpret things in ways that reduce negative emotions and foster positive emotions. We may never reach true mastery in this regard, but striving for it will still (hopefully) enable enough progress to make the effort worthwhile. And to help us make progress, we can use stoic sages as models for emulation (eg, ‘what would Epictetus do in this situation?’).

Here’s a summary of some key psychological techniques:

• Don’t be bothered by things over which you have little or no influence. That includes accepting that things sometimes won’t turn out as you intended or planned, so always be ready to adapt.

• Mentally prepare for tough circumstances, imagining handling them with calm composure. Such preparation will reduce fear of tough circumstances and lessen their effect when they happen. If necessary, also take a ‘time out’ to let emotions dampen. And taking it further, make tough circumstances a positive by treating them as learning opportunities.

• Be oriented largely towards the present, since the past is done and unchangeable, and the future is largely uncertain and out of our hands.

• Find a balance between being engaged in the world versus somewhat detached. Treat life as a festival or game, with the goal being to enjoy observing and participating for the short duration we’re here, but without being concerned too much about outcomes.

• Focus more on the inner development of your character rather than attaining or hanging on to external things which may be transient or beyond your control (material things, sensory pleasures, social status, health, even loved ones).

• Appreciate that things may happen according to a universal scheme which has underlying reason and meaning, but is beyond our finite understanding. Use this perspective to remind yourself that the things which trouble us are generally ‘small stuff’ in the overall scheme of things, which is mysterious but at least seems to entail an incomprehendably vast universe which has existed for billions of years.

Since most reviewers like this book, I don't want to deter people from reading it. But since the book didn't resonate with me, I think it's safe to say there will be others it won't resonate with either.

From the first chapter of the book: “Stoicism is a philosophy that focuses on teaching us how to excel in life, how to become better human beings, and how to live a good life” to the very last chapter: “Seneca said that the only true good resides entirely within our mind, in the ‘ruling faculty’ or consciousness, we should somehow seek to enlarge that part of ourselves, because in doing so, we ‘rise above’ individual external things, diluting their perceived significance.” Donald Robertson presents a flawless way to change the reader’s life and way of thinking.

Inside the pages of this valuable work of art, are countless detailed professional suggestions, proven techniques, and historic Stoic quotes from (the closest thing to) the Stoic sages of old, that will have an impact on not only the reader’s life, but also on the lives of others within the reader’s sphere of influence.

The fusing together of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), and Stoicism produces a truly beautiful and effective recipe that produces a ‘good’ and ‘happy’ life, when practiced daily. This recipe however is not for the faint of heart. There is a lot of hard, (personal) yet rewarding work (in the form of time commitments) required to transform oneself into the strong-minded “sage” described in this book.

The process of becoming a Stoic sage is not difficult in and of itself, but the necessity to commit to a certain amount of time each day in practice can seem somewhat daunting to the average ‘busy’ person who is caught up in the ‘rat race’ of what we call (making a) living.

While reading this great book, the reader WILL experience many “Aha! I’ve got it” moments and may even feel compelled to reread certain sections two or three times to let the information presented sink into the deepest parts of the thinking process. I personally highlighted the parts (and there are many) that resonate with my personal practice. I can quickly go to the highlighted parts when I feel I need a refresher of all the wonderful information presented.

Readers who want to change their lives for the better, to start, and continue, living a ‘good’ life will find this read extremely helpful and enlightening. Putting the information inside into practice is not difficult, but it does require a certain investment of time each day for perceptible results.

I gave this book a five-star rating because it changed my life. I will use it as reference material because the information presented within has had and will continue to have a profound effect on my life and in my way of thinking.

It is a great book, but do not expect a sudden relevation; if its yours first book in the subject, probably you will be disapointed, also if you have read too much about it, is a great book if you are use to take principles and apply those to your life.